Abstract
Male Mediterranean flour moths, Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller), placed in continuous light (LL) from the early pupal stage on were partially sterile as adults. When old adult moths were transferred to alternating light and dark (LD), fertility was not recovered, but fertility was recovered when fairly young males were similarly transferred. Multiple matings of males indicated that recovery was correlated with sperm in the testes at the LL to LD transfer becoming available for ejaculation. Few morphological abnormalities were found in the sperm of LL males, but there was less activity than in the sperm of LD males. At 1 week after eclosion, the testes of LL males contained more eupyrene sperm bundles than did the testes of LD males, but the LL males had somewhat fewer bundles overall in their reproductive tracts. Disruption of the circadian rhythm regulating movement of sperm from the testes was suggested as the most probable cause of the sterility of LL males.
Published Version
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